The Devil In Disguise

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Luke Thorne loves having one hell of a good time. As the ruler of every dark creature to walk the earth, he certainly has more than a bit of a bad side. He lives for danger and isn’t the type to lose his heart—mostly because he doesn’t have one. Then she walks into his life.

Mina James is seduction in the flesh, a perfect temptation that the devil himself couldn’t pass up. Too late, Luke realizes he’s let a real siren into his life, a woman who is bent on using his dark powers to free herself from hidden enemies. Since Luke isn’t the type of man to be used, he should walk away from her, but…something about Mina draws him close.

Soon he’s realizing that she isn’t who she appears to be. Not dark and cold, but burning red hot. Mina is a woman fighting for her life—and the Lord of the Dark suddenly finds himself in an unlikely role…hero. Luke isn’t going to let her enemies destroy Mina. He will fight heaven and hell to keep her. But in the end, the secrets they both carry may just rip apart a love that should never have been…

There are Bad Things in the world…very, very bad. Are you ready for them?

Excerpt

He waved her forward.

She didn’t move. Mina gave a nervous laugh. “I’m not like…walking through the doorway to hell or anything, am I?” She asked the question just to be safe.

His head cocked as he studied her. “This is the second time you’ve mentioned hell to me.” He paused a beat. “Any particular reason why?”

Mina swallowed. “No. Sorry.” And she squared her shoulders and walked through that doorway. Immediately, the world grew darker. There were no more fancy rugs. No more glittering chandeliers or beautiful artwork. She was in a rough, carved stone tunnel. Old, so old…the air itself felt stale. The door clanged shut behind her and Mina jumped.

“Hope I didn’t scare you,” Luke murmured.

You do. You scare me a whole lot. I just can’t let that fear stop me. “Don’t be silly,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder—Mina thought that was a rather nice touch. “What’s frightening about you?” Only everything.

His body slid past hers in that narrow tunnel. There were lights on the stone floor—faint lights that seemed to just come out from the stone itself. Because those lights were down so low, shadows filled the area. It felt tight, too compacted and—

He was leaving her. Never, ever let it be said that Luke Thorne was a gentleman. Behind him, she glowered, then Mina’s heels clicked as she double-timed it to keep up with him.

Soon the tunnel was ending. Another door waited, with another keypad. Only this door was thicker than the one before. Once more, she gave a nervous laugh when he typed in the code. “Just what kind of criminals needed to be kept here, exactly?” And why was there a modern key code set up at an old prison?

Because, obviously, he still uses this place.

She’d been looking for a safe that hid his most valuable possessions. She’d used her power to compel Luke to show her his secrets. So maybe he used the old prison as his safe now. Excitement had her heart racing.

The door swung inward but Luke had turned to face her. His gaze—hooded—swept over her. “Very, very bad criminals.” His voice was even rougher now. “The kind of criminals that needed to be locked away from the rest of the world.”

Her goosebumps were huge. Every instinct she had screamed for Mina to run. She felt as if she were in the scary movies she’d watched so much as a teen. She was the heroine, about to make a seriously stupid move. She should run away. Run, run but…

I can’t leave. I need that treasure too badly. More than just her life was at stake.

So she pasted a broad smile on her face and stepped right up to him. Her breasts pressed to his chest and her fingers skimmed down his arm. “What do you know about being bad?” She injected just the right note of flirtation in her voice. Just the right hint of sly seduction that would whisper through his mind and control him.

He leaned toward her and she felt his body tense. “Everything,” he told her, his voice so dark and sinister.

And she believed him.

Her heart stuttered in her chest for a moment, but she rose onto her toes. Mina pressed a light, teasing kiss to his lips. “Then maybe you can show me.”

His eyes—they seemed to change. To shine. His stare hardened with promise. “I will.”